The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying plastics material pre-forms. Plastics material pre-forms of this type are used in the prior art in order to be expanded by being acted upon with blowing pressure to form plastics material containers. For this purpose the plastics material pre-forms are first heated in an oven, in particular in an infrared or microwave oven, in order to be subsequently expanded in this heated state.
For this purpose the plastics material pre-forms are usually held on gripping elements and are conveyed through the oven by these gripping elements. A precise position of the plastics material pre-forms is necessary for error-free and reliable operation of the heating device. In particular, in the case of apparatus of increasingly smaller design, lopsided positioning of the pre-forms for example can result in the heating elements being destroyed or damaged. Unfortunately, such a precise position of the plastics material pre-forms cannot be guaranteed at all times. The object of the present invention is therefore to ensure a reliable operation, in particular of heating apparatus of this type for heating plastics material pre-forms. In particular, the invention should provide the opportunity for allowing the removal of defectively mounted plastics material pre-forms or the discarding thereof. This should also, in particular, be made possible with the requirement of high machine performances and, in particular, it should also be provided in this case that any preceding and following plastics material pre-forms are not likewise adversely affected. In addition, these objects should also be attained in a reliable and inexpensive manner.